Australia tests cyber-terrorism defences

Australia is today putting its technical armoury through its
paces during a one-day exercise aimed at repelling a future
cyber-terrorism attack.

Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said the Cyberstorm exercise was
aimed at testing both the people and the processes behind
Australia's key infrastructure such as transport and emergency
services.

"Complex IT systems underpin many areas of our economy and they
need to be defended," he said in a statement.

Cyberstorm is part of a larger week-long US-led scenario and is
also being run simultaneously today in Canada, the
UK, and New Zealand.

A spokesman at the Attorney-General's office said the Australian
test scenario centred on a fictional group that was trying to "hack
into the transport network and disrupt it for their own
political agenda".

Counter-terrorism police, computer emergency response team
AusCERT and a number of other departments are all
involved in the cyber-attack scenario alongside officials
from the defence force, ASIO, transportation and emergency
services.

Unlike the US where IT defences will actually be tested
out, the Australian side of the operation is purely desk-based.

The spokesman said Australian participants were
required to liaise with one another to play out the scenario
as well as other countries involved in the exercise.

Mr Ruddock described the exercise as a key part
of the Australian Government's counter-terrorism strategy and the
only way to effectively test systems against theoretical
attacks.

"Terrorists are constantly seeking new and innovative ways to
attack and disrupt our way of life. By conducting exercises such as
these we increase Australia's ability to detect, prevent and
respond to cyber attacks," Mr Ruddock said.

The exercise will physically test procedures, communication
channels and responses in the event of a cyber attack as well as
international communication protocols between countries.

The Australian part of the exercise began this morning and comes
amid a week-long exercise being run by The US Department of
Homeland Security.

It is being run here by GovCERT.au, the body that sets
policy for protecting the National Information Infrastructure.

Later in the week, participants in the US scenario will seek to
exploit technical vulnerabilities and attempt to unleash chaos onto
transport and communications systems.